Tag Archives: yamakaze

Daikōtaigōgū daijin kiyosuke-ason ke uta’awase 08

Round Eight

Left (Tie)

うき世をば又なににかはなぐさめん花にさきだついのちともがな

ukiyo oba
mata nani ni ka wa
nagusamen
hana ni sakidatsu
inochi to mogana
In this cruel world
Is there yet anything else
To console me?
Before the blossoms’ departure
I would my life do the same…

Court Lady Taifu
15

Right

桜さく春の山風みねこせば雪ふりつもる谷のほそみち

sakura saku
haru no yamakaze
mine koseba
yuki furitsumoru
tani no hosomichi
When in cherry-blooming
Spring, the mountain breezes
Cross the peaks
Snow falls and piles high
Upon the narrow valley paths.

Moromitsu
16

Both poems are smooth, and on that basis, I would say that the Right is superior, but it has an archaic element, while the Left lacks anything unusual about it, so this is a tie of quality.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 16

Round Sixteen

Left

桜さく吉野の山の山風にふもとをこめて花にほふらし

sakura saku
yoshino no yama no
yamakaze ni
fumoto o komete
hana niourashi
Cherries bloom
In the mountains of Yoshino, where
The mountain breezes
Make even the foothills
Aglow with blossom.

Tomoshige
31

Right (Win)

花の色はあまりにけりなつくばねのこのもかのもにかかる白雲

hana no iro wa
amarinikeri na
tsukubane no
kono mo kano mo ni
kakaru shirakumo
The blossoms’ hues
Have overflowed[1]
The peak of Tsukuba—
Near and far, both,
Draped with clouds of white.[2]

Dharma Master Zenshin
32

The Left’s poem has no faults worth mentioning and, furthermore, is not particularly remarkable. The Right’s poem refers to the peak of Tsukuba; while this is generally thought of as a mountain, it is not necessarily limited to mountains and there are, I think, a bunch of instances where it means a place with lots of trees; however, because here it also conveys the conception of mountains, from the use of pleasant poetic technique, the Right should win.


[1] Zenshin is clearly referencing Ono no Komachi’s famous: Topic unknown. 花の色はうつりにけりないたづらにわが身世にふるながめせしまに hana no iro wa / utsurinikeri na / itazura ni / wa ga mi yo ni furu / nagame seshi ma ni ‘The blossoms’ hues / Have already faded away, / While in idle thoughts / My life goes by, / As I watch the long rains fall.’ (KKS II: 113).

[2] An allusive variation on: Eastern poem: a poem from Hitachi. 筑波嶺のこのもかのもに影はあれど君がみかげにます陰はなし tsukuba ne no / kono mo kano mo ni / kage aredo / kimi ga mikage ni / masu kage wa nashi ‘On the peak of Tsukuba / Here and there / Lie shadows, yet / To your shadow, my love (my Lord) / They cannot compare!’ Anonymous (KKS XX: 1095).

Kinkai wakashū 104

On geese flying over a place where the blossom was scattering, for a folding screen picture.

雁がねのかへる翅にかをるなり花をうらむる春の山かぜ

kari ga ne no
kaeru tubasa ni
kaoru nari
hana o uramuru
haru no yamakaze
Geese cry, as
Homeward bound, their wings
Are fragrant with
Blossom borne by the regretful
Mountain breeze in springtime.
A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Entō ōn’uta’awase 12

Round Twelve

Left

うつり行く花の下道跡もなしながめも白き春の山風

utsuriyuku
hana no shita michi
ato mo nashi
nagame mo shiroki
haru no yamakaze
The shifting
Blossom on the paths beneath
Leaves no footprints there;
My gaze with whiteness filled
By spring’s breezes in the mountains.

Dōchin
23

Right (Win)

身にかへておもふもくるし桜花さかぬみ山に宿もとめてん

mi ni kaete
omou mo kurushi
sakurabana
sakanu miyama ni
yado mo tometen
It should be me instead,
I think, but even that brings pain;
Where cherry blossoms
Fail to bloom, deep within the mountains
Should I make my home.

Dharma Master Nyokan
24

The Left’s poem does not sound poor, but has ‘gaze with whiteness’—a long time ago, Lay Priest Toshinari repeatedly said that it is not appropriate to compose about looking at something specific using ‘gaze’. The initial and concluding section of the Right’s poem sound fine—it should win.

SCSS II: 82

Composed on a day during the reign of former Emperor Horikawa when the ladies of the court went to visit the blossom in the Eastern hills.

たちかへりまたやとはまし山かぜに花ちる里の人のこころを

tachikaeri
mata ya towamashi
yamakaze ni
hana chiru sato no
hito no kokoro o
Rising and returning
Only to once more pay a curious call:
The breeze from off the mountains
Scattering blossom round the estate
Where lies my lady’s heart…

Supernumerary Middle Counsellor Morotoki

SZS I: 46

Composed on the conception of visiting distant blossom in the mountains, on a day when he was due to return after paying a visit to the residence of the regent.

たづねつる花のあたりになりにけりにほふにしるしはるの山かぜ

tazuneturu
Fana no atari ni
narinikeri
nioFu ni sirusi Fa
Faru no yamakaze
I have paid a visit to
A place of blossom
Here;
Of their scent a sign is carried
On the spring mountain breezes.

Former Emperor Sutoku

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

SCSS IV: 267

On the moon at a mountain retreat, for a Fifty Poem Sequence at the residence of the Lay Priest Prince of the Second Order.

松のとをおしあけ方の山かぜに雲もかからぬ月を見るかな

matsu no to o
oshiakegata no
yamakaze ni
kumo mo kakaranu
tsuki o miru kana
Upon my pinewood door
Pushes at the break of dawn
A breeze from off the mountains, so
Unencumbered by the clouds
Do I see the moon!

Ietaka, Senior Third Rank

A kuzushiji version of the poem's text.
Created with Soan.

Kinkai wakashū 34

After I had had various people compose on the scent of plum carried on the breeze.

梅がかをゆめの枕にさそひきてさむるまちける春の山風

ume ga ka o
yume no makura ni
sasoikite
samuru machikeru
haru no yamakaze
The scent of plum
To my pillow, where I lay dreaming
Was beckoned—
Waiting ‘til I awakened did
The mountain breeze in springtime.
Created with Soan.